Vive
AR enhanced gameplay for boardgames or tabletop
Role: Concept Presentation, UX Design, UI Design
Responsibility: Research, IA flows, UX, UI, Presentation to VP, Demo
Process: Research, Sketch, Iterate Solutions, User Research, Create Assets, Create Demo
Solution/Result: Experience pitch for AR enabled tabletop games and SDK for developers
As an Senior Designer at HTC/Vive, I would create proposals that would enhance our user experience products and enable us to create patentable IP. I crated several projects using AR multiplayer gameplay. One of the more fun ones was for an AR enabled space game using existing board gaming products.
A part of the appeal of using AR in tabletop or boardgames, was to enhance the game environment with special effects. Items such as lighting for the interior or exterior of vehicles. smoke effects, laser fire and ambient environmental effects would be fun experiences for a game, not not be too taxing for the user. The idea was not to create a "video games" of a current experience, but rather to enhance what was already available, and provide a more impressive environment for the players to enjoy the game.
IA FLOWS
I created some unique IA flows that also included instructional diagrams of the AR interaction with the game pieces. I keep all real world items in black and white, with anything as an AR in overlay in color. The initial explorations focused on consolidating information onto the playing pieces. In many games, the player uses a character or stat sheet, along wire cardboard tokens to keep track of certain attributes. AR would help move this data to the game pieces itself, and the data could be accessible via a simple hand gesture, ir via an icon that activates a "drawer". This would in turn eliminate the "clutter" of having so many game status pieces for the players to track while playing.
The fun part of this proposal was all the different ways a user could interact with the playing pieces. The UI could stay hidden until a user reached for an item. Depending on how a user interacted with each piece, the piece could simulate activation with wood effects or engine lights. or it could help indicate and animate the moves of the game if the user integrated with the base of the models.
HIGH RES COMP
I created several high resolution digital comps for the visuals. These are a pretty good representation of how the AR overlays would appear if a player was wearing the HMD.
Video Demo for AR gameplay
After completing the initial proposals for the experience and going over additional user requirements with the usability research team, I crafted video comps of the experience. This helps bring all the ideas together in one composition to review with the Vive creative labs Vice President to get buy off on the concept.